開

• Physical Opening: The removal of a barrier to create an aperture (e.g., doors, gates, seals, eyes, mouths).
• Spatial Clearing: To clear or reclaim land, transforming wild or obstructed space into usable territory.
• Initiation and Establishment: Starting a process by "opening the way." This implies foundational establishment rather than mere chronological beginning. Applications include the establishment of states/dynasties, the initiation of rituals or formal sessions, and the removal of intellectual or spiritual obstructions to achieve enlightenment.

• Predominantly transitive.
• Frequently appears in resultative compounds to indicate a state of "open-ness" achieved by a preceding action.
• In very early texts, may describe a condition of accessibility or an already open state.

• 開 vs. 啟: 開 is generally broader and more physical/forceful; 啟 typically denotes unlocking, triggering, or revealing (a subtler opening).
• 開 vs. 辟: In the context of clearing land, 辟 emphasizes the act of splitting or carving out the earth, while 開 emphasizes making the resulting space accessible and usable.

// Tang-period reading: //kəi.

• Variant: U+2B52D.